Chapter 12, Problem 1QR

To determine

The induced nuclear fission and nuclear chain reaction processes.

Answer to Problem 1QR

The absorption of any nucleus by stable atom induces the nuclear fission. This extra neutron makes the atom unstable and leads to the fission into two lighter elements. Nuclear chain reaction results due to the more nuclear fission reactions.

Explanation of Solution

The process of nuclear fission was first discovered by German chemist Otto Hahn in 1938. Nuclear power plants use nuclear fission to get energy. Nuclear fission is a process that splits the nucleus of an atom into two lighter nuclei, which, as a result, produces two lighter atoms, and releases energy. The first experiment of this process was done over the uranium nuclei that splits into barium after the heavy bombardment of neutrons. The nuclear power plant is a good example of the process. The sequences that are involved in many of the nuclear fission reactions is called a nuclear chain reaction. The nuclear chain reaction is a process in which one further nucleus produces additional fission by the released neutrons in fission.